Obviously if you’re reading Fusion, January 2013, the heretical prophesies of the Mayan calendars (see the WOF web site for article in 2010 on the movie 2012) and other ancient sacrileges such as the writings of so-called prophets like Montanus and his prophetesses (Prisca and Maximilla), St Malachy, Saint Columba (aka Columbkille), Paracelsus, and Nostradamus are proven bogus and counterfeit. In addition, we have all seen and heard the “doomsday” predictions that inevitably surround international crises and other notable events such as national tragedies, catastrophes, political and/or governmental upheavals etc.
Remember the millennial-bug scare of 2000, which gave good fodder for many apocalypse and doomsday preppers? Who can forget doomsday cults, such as the People’s Temple, David Koresh, and the Heaven’s Gate Community? Such outlandish views, as well as incessant, inevitably incorrect predictions about the future cause many to scoff at any talk of future world-wide cataclysm, devastation, and /or regional disasters.
As a result, many in our world classify those who address these issues biblically in the same camp as other “stranger than fiction” individuals and conspiracy theorists. Surprisingly, some “bible-believing” Christians react regimentally, even vehemently opposing discussions and biblical studies on topics related to humanity’s future. In reality there will be tribulation, unquestionably a great tribulation in which wrath consumes the earth, and all of its people/nations face the great and terrible day of our Lord.
Sometimes our modern day media gets on board as well, presenting documentaries with “scholars” and “specialists” from many different perspectives and disciplines, which only serve to erode the credibility and authority of our biblical narative and distinctively Christian world-view. Thus, popular misconceptions arise, distorting the true Christian viewpoint of escatology (study of end times – literally “things to come”) and any apocalypse. Undeniably, ignorance, continuous confusion, and perpetual misunderstandings of Christ’s return and its purpose prevail. Wonder whose work that is?
The word “apocalypse” (Ancient Greek: ἀποκάλυψις apocálypsis, from ἀπό and καλύπτω meaning ‘un-covering’), translates literally from Greek into English as disclosure of knowledge, a revealing (possibly of something hidden), a lifting of the veil, or a revelation … as in the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John in what we biblically refer to as the book of Revelation.
Your reading of this publication is evidence, once again, that our God, the one and only true God, reigns eternally as the sovereign and supreme authority over all humanity and His glorious handiwork (Creation … all that’s seen and unseen)! The fact that all these soothsaying prophets missed the apocalypse, or the “end of the world,” simply proves the fallacy and error of their technique. God’s true prophets are never wrong, they never miss! In fact, as you’ve heard me say before, while close counts in the games of horseshoes or washers, as well as in warfare with hand-grenades, mortars, and atomic bombs, close certainly doesn’t score anything in futuristic prophecy, apocalyptic considerations, or eschatology. Only direct hits are credited with accuracy and success.
Therefore, why would any consideration be given to the mystical, demonically-inspired predictions of a pagan culture’s calendar, or the bizarre ramblings and writings of mediums, shamanists, and spiritualists who claim to have some special gifting and unique, obscure understanding or revelation. Only the inerrant (without error in the original form/manuscript) scriptures declare the things to come before they happen — not as some complex formula with multiple variables that might or might not be fulfilled! No, exact, direct hits are the only writings and messages worthy of one’s consideration … and consequently only a supreme being that knows the end at the beginning, the outcome before the inception, can be totally and inexplicably infallible.
Therefore, as true believers, when considering “things to come” and the future apocalypse, let us rest assured that what God has said will surely be. We are never to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine or the contemporary ideas that so easily sweep through the non-discerning, doctrinally compromised modern church, society, philosophy, or culture. Our faith and future must rest extraordinarily in Christ Jesus and His complete revelation of apocalyptic events and “things to come.” Any and all other sources will be proven inaccurate and fallible — just like the erroneous Mayan calendar stands today!
There will come a time when each of us is called upon to express our belief/faith in an apocalyptic mode. Done properly, with biblical authority and inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, it becomes a powerful witness to both believer and unbeliever alike. Unquestionably our world-view includes an end … the Ancient of Days enthroned as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is not an expression of our own self-importance and arrogance, but a genuine desire for the world to know Christ’s forgiveness, the power of His victorious resurrection, and His abundant life, now and forever! To have this capability, as empowered by God to change/reach our world, and yet retreat to non-apocalyptic mode because of all the heretical nonsense, denies our Lord’s ability to redeem even the darkest history and squanders a precious treasure. Undoubtedly, Christ asks and prepares His people to speak clearly in every opportunity!
— His & Yours by GRACE,
Pastor Frank